The only people who know full extent of #Hokies' #Wakeyleaks involvement are Shane and Frank Beamer

Late in the 2014 football season, Virginia Tech lost at Wake Forest 6-3 in double-overtime, the Deacons’ lone ACC victory of the year. Scoreless through regulation, the game became a Twitter punchline and “put offensive football back 100 years.”

Last week Tech athletic director Whit Babcock revealed that a Hokies assistant coach had accepted Wake Forest game-plan information prior to kickoff. Though not specified by Babcock, the source of the information was known to be Deacons radio analyst Tommy Elrod, a former Wake Forest player and assistant coach.

Babcock also declined to identify the Tech assistant, but Thursday that culprit was exposed, casting the program in the worst possible light.

“Worst” because the culprit was Shane Beamer, which takes this “Wakeyleaks” cheating scheme uncomfortably close to his father.

Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock apologetically acknowledged Thursday that a former Hokies assistant football coach received improper game-plan information from a Wake Forest radio analyst prior to the teams’ 2014 game.

Frank Beamer coached the Hokies from 1987-2015 and is revered in Blacksburg and beyond for his success and integrity. During a staff makeover prior to the 2011 season, he hired Shane, then a South Carolina assistant, as his associate head coach and running backs coach.

Would Shane Beamer have accepted illicit information from an opponent and not informed his father/boss?

Both Beamers say that, indeed, Shane, completing his first season as Georgia’s tight ends coach and special teams coordinator, disclosed nothing.

“While at Virginia Tech, I was contacted by Tommy Elrod the night before our game against Wake Forest in 2014,” Beamer said Thursday in a statement released by Georgia. “I had known him for several years through coaching circles, so I did not think it unusual he would be calling me. During these communications, however, he told me about a few plays that he said Wake Forest might run during the game on Saturday.

“I did not share this information with anyone, including our student-athletes, anyone on the coaching staff, or my father. Nor did we use the information in the game. I realize I made a serious mistake in judgment by accepting the information and failing to notify officials at Virginia Tech of the communications. I sincerely apologize to Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, the ACC and the University of Georgia for my mistake. I am truly sorry.

“I am particularly remorseful to the extent my actions may have brought embarrassment to my family, and especially my Dad. Again, I apologize for my actions and have learned from my mistakes.”

Frank Beamer has issued two denials.

The first was Dec. 14, the day after Wake Forest announced that Elrod had “provided, or attempted to provide, confidential and proprietary game preparations (to opponents) on multiple occasions, starting in 2014.”

Frank Beamer told me that evening via phone that to the best of his knowledge Elrod had not approached any member of his staff. The mere concept that an in-house mole would shop game preparations to opponents – Louisville and Army also have been implicated -- seemed to offend and baffle him.

But Babcock said the next day that the Hokies did have a Wakeyleaks connection. He said that an assistant coach, who had left the program when Justin Fuente became head coach, had accepted, but not shared with any players or co-workers, improper information.

In a statement, Babcock, knowing the coach in question was Shane Beamer, professed full support for Frank Beamer. Moreover, the elder Beamer issued a statement through the school.

“I can assure you that while I was the head coach at Virginia Tech I had no knowledge of what is being alleged,” the statement said. “I’ve built my entire career and life on doing things the right way and that will never change.”

I reached out to both Beamers following Georgia’s announcement Thursday that it has fined Shane Beamer $25,000 for his transgression – suspension from the Bulldogs’ Dec. 30 Liberty Bowl against Texas Christian also would have been appropriate. Shane declined comment via text, while his father did not return a call.

Is the Beamers’ story plausible? I think so.

First, I’ve known Frank for nearly 30 years and have had to ask more than a few pointed questions. Never did I find his answers to be dishonest. Occasionally evasive? Of course. Happens all the time with reporters and public figures.

Second, neither Beamer has ever been accused of violating NCAA rules.

Third, while I never worked for my father, I idolized him, much like Shane does Frank. So to avoid disappointing him, I masked some professional missteps.

Babcock believes Frank Beamer, and his reasons are more than instinctive. He’s seen the evidence Wake Forest uncovered from Elrod’s phone and computer records. He’s spoken to principals. He’s determined, to the best of his ability, that neither defensive coordinator Bud Foster nor defensive line coach Charley Wiles, the 2014 assistants who remain at Tech, was involved.

But the only people who truly know whether this is a stain or scandal are Shane and Frank Beamer.

I can be reached at 247-4636 or by email at dteel@dailypress.com. Follow me at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP